'TWAS the day after April Fools and all through Adelup, the spin machine was buzzing about to hand the media its latest scoop. And so begins the governor’s plan on increasing efforts at transparency in the government with weekly briefings.

Once again we are going to be treated to a show in which the governor will try to convince us having briefings is being transparent. Never mind that we may not be getting any real information.

It is important to clarify what transparency really is. To do this, we can simply say that publicity can only achieve transparency if it tells the whole truth. Anything short of that is merely a propaganda show. I present this list of items first promised and then rescinded. I hope and wish the administration would address these and truly work towards real and unfettered transparency.

1. Paying income tax refunds and providing read-only bank account access. I have continued to champion the cause of paying income tax refunds with what is budgeted as actual revenues are exceeding budgeted levels this fiscal year. The administration has continued to plead there is no cash. I asked for read-only bank account access, they said no. I asked for cash reports, they said no. I asked them to even follow a law that was authored by then-Sen. Calvo mandating cash reports by DOA, and again they said no. Pay refunds and be transparent through providing read-only access to GovGuam bank accounts.

2. Provide reliable financial reports. Last week, the director of Administration formally admitted that the Monthly Revenue and Expenditure Reports they issue to the public are unreliable. Mind you, these are not draft reports, but signed and verified by the directors of DOA, Revenue and Tax and the BBMR, the top three financial positions in the governor’s Cabinet. This is extremely troubling because these reports act as a transparency tool not only for policy makers, but also for economists, outside investors, local businesses, bond rating agencies, as well as the general public. Can DOA please explain why it is posting all the daily revenue receipt transactions manually, which was automated in 2004 and resulted in the largest productivity gain in the government ever?

3. Attacking GDOE leaders. It is also in the public record that GDOE presented a plan in October 2011 to the governor’s chief of staff and the Guam Education Board that could cut more than $30 million from its budget. So why does the governor say in his weekly address that GDOE leaders have done nothing to curb expenditures when really it is his chief of staff and Education Board that failed to act on the recommendations?

4. Tiyan deal. Anyone who read the first amendment to the Tiyan Lease Agreement with Core Tech agreed to by the governor could see the one-sidedness of the deal toward the private company. We will be seeing $5 to $6 million in tax revenues fly out the window each year to pay for rent, maintenance and insurance over the next 10 years for a 50-year-old barracks near the flight path of hundreds of airplanes a year. Who negotiated this deal on behalf of Core Tech and who represented the government to protect the people of Guam’s hard-earned tax dollars? Now we see that he wants to use these buildings for offices under the guise of the school lease, without giving another business on Guam a chance to bid to provide office space to the government. Is the truth of this lease finally being revealed and becoming transparent?

These are only a few items I could fit in this column today that I hope could be addressed by the governor’s newfound admiration for transparency in the government. Only with true transparency can the people hold a government accountable for its actions. Allowing the people to see and hear what the administration wants them to hear only spreads half-truths and is counterproductive to upholding the actions by government leaders.

I have always worked hard to ensure transparency and accountability with any governor and all administrations. This one has been no different and is certainly not any easier.